1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document processing system in which a print image is stored into a memory and can be handled as output data.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, owing to the development of the techniques of image processing using a computer, a document can be formed, edited, and arranged by a computer, an image such as character data, figure data, image data, or the like included in the document is stored into a memory, and a printer output can be obtained from a bit image. Such a system has data of a specific image pattern (hereinafter, referred to as font data) of each character and its set width. A system called a WYS-WYG (What You See Is What You Get) which in editing can execute operations while displaying on a CRT the result of the same form (indicative of the electronic form in the present invention) as that upon printing, is main-stream. Upon printing, the font data is stored in the memory on the basis of the result of the form. On the other hand, a figure is drawn and image data is stored at a designated position on the basis of figure data (vector information). The image data is output by a printer which can execute a digital control based on the bit image in the memory.
The above system has font data, a form logic, an image memory printer, and the like in the system and can solely execute total document processes. In recent years, such a system is called a DTP (desk top publishing system) and has been highlighted.
However, the performance of the above DTP shown as a conventional example is inferior to that of a large-scale system having a computer-aided phototypographic composing machine or the like.
The following reasons are considered as causes.
First, there is a difference between resolutions of final outputs. The resolution of the DTP is set to about 400 dpi and that of the large-scale system is set to a value of 1200 to 2400 dpi or more. A bit image of 400 dpi of the A4 size requires 2 Mbytes even in the case where the bit image is constructed by binary data. To raise the resolution of 1200 dpi, 18 Mbytes, nine times as much as 2 Mbytes, are needed. Such a large capacity results in high costs of the memory and, as the quantity of data which is handled by the CPU used in the existing DTP, is a larger burden. In addition, local installation of such a printer is expensive.
Second, there is a difference between the kinds of font data. In the DTP, a few kinds, e.g., Ming-style type, Gothic type, and the like are provided. The large-scale system has a large number of various font data.
Therefore, the data which results from the form of the DTP is converted into data of the input form for the large-scale system and is output. On the large-scale system side, substantially the same form and style are derived, while an output of a high resolution is obtained by using a large number of various font data. However, it is difficult for the DTP to obtain substantially the same style as that of the result which was locally output because of differences between the form logics or between the font data. There is a drawback that editing or checking of work on the large-scale system side for the above adjustment is inevitable.